Nobody Dies: Dreams of the Dying
by Shadic the Hedgehog Author
Summary: In a complete reversal from my story "The Wrong Direction," I have written a tale of nightmares and pure horror. Not for the easily scared. Contains gruesome imagery.
1. Beginning the Dreams

Dreams of the Dying

by Machina Ex Deus/Shadic the Hedgehog

BEGINNING OF THE DREAM

Shinji smiled as he lay in bed, going over recent events. Things were chaotic, to be sure, but they were pretty good, too. He closed his eyes and he drifted off to slumberland.

"This isn't my usual kind of dream..." He mused, looking around himself. "I mean, why the heck would I be standing on a big, blue ball?" Indeed, Shinji found himself in a place he had never seen before, nothing but yellow and blue (the blue belonging to the large sphere under his feet) as far as he could see. "I mean, there's no people, and there's usually at least _Asuka_..."

_**Hmhmhmhmhm...**_

"What?" Suddenly, the bizarre scene vanished, to find himself on a street corner, one that seemed oddly familiar to him, though he couldn't place it. There was still no one around, and there was no noise, either. At least, until he heard the chanting of what sounded like two little girls.

"One two, he's coming for you..."

Shinji looked around, but the song/chant/thing seemed to be from everywhere at once.

"...Three four, better lock your door..."

Somehow, he'd heard that song before. It was about as familiar as the street on which he stood.

"...Five six, get your crucifix..."

He cocked his head and tried to think of where he'd heard it.

"...Seven eight, better stay up late..."

His eyes widened as he finally figured it out.

"...Nine, ten, never sleep again."

He spun around, and he fell backwards at the figure in front of him.

_**Hello, Shinji Ikari.**_

Shinji screamed.

-

"Blood Pattern: Blue! Angel confirmed!"

"Where is it? Call Misato and get the pilots here!"

"I-it's coming from Major Katsuragi's apartment!"

"WHAT?"

-

_**You are, all of you, garbage.**_  
_**Your hide who you are from the world and yourselves.**_  
_**Only revealing your true selves in your dreams and nightmares.**_  
_**I am the Nightmare of God.**_  
_**I am the Angel of the Dreams of the Dying.**_  
_**Call me Ishmael.**_  
_**Sweet Dreams.**_


	2. The Nightmare Continues

THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES...

-

Rei hopped into the vents, going to see Shinji and Asuka, since Gendo and Little Mommy were... busy, and Kei was being her usual grumpy-pants self. She quickly came out of the other end at Misato's apartment (more specifically, Shinji's room).

"Hee~ee-" Rei stared in horror at Shinji's head and spine laying on his pillow as the rest of his body was scattered about the room. She backed up slowly before turning to the door and ripping it open, running for Asuka's room.

Asuka hung from the ceiling, dressed in her night gown. Misato was little better, with Pen-pen's own dead body shoved into her mouth until her jaw had come off and she suffocated.

"No..." whispered Rei. "Nononononononononononono..." She leapt back into the vents, and made a dash for home.

"Please, oh, please, oh please, ohpleaseohplease." Her wish was denied, as she found Yui and Gendo in pieces on the bed, and Kei was nowhere to be found.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

-

Waking World

Misato awoke to the ringing of her phone. One of them, anyways. The most important one. She scrambled out of bed and grabbed the Angel Alert phone she kept nearby at all times.

"Status?" She exclaimed, starting to change into her uniform.

"The MAGI say that the Angel is in your apartment! Is anything happening over there?"

"No-" She was interrupted by two screams. She recognized those voices as Shinji and Asuka's, and quickly ran out of the room, wearing only her pajama shirt and uniform bottoms. She threw open Shinji's door first, and found him writhing on the bed, strange vein-like markings all over his body. Asuka was the same, only her shoulder was bleeding, too.

Over the phone, Misato heard Maya's panicked voice, "Sempai! The Angel is at the Ikari's apartment as well!"

"WHAT?" roared Gendo.

"Misato, did you hear that?" asked Ritsuko.

"Yes, and I think I have an idea of what's going on. Shinji and Asuka are both having nightmares, and they're both covered in these vein-like markings. Asuka also has a wounded shoulder."

"The Angel is attacking their dreams?"

"That's what it looks like. Ritsuko, what do we do?"

"Try- try waking them up, that might break the Angel's influence!"

"Right!"

Misato walked up to Asuka and reached out her free hand, prepared to wake her up. Her hand was repelled by- "An AT-Field!" She heard Ritsuko curse on the other end of the line, as she looked Asuka over. Bruises were forming in various places around her body, but what drew Misato's attention was the large, glowing blue eye that had formed on one of the veins.  
_**  
**__**SLEEP**__**  
**_  
Misato dropped to the ground, phone clattering to the floor.

"Misato? Misato, what's happening? MISATO!"

-

Misato's Dream

"Ritsuko? Ritsuko, you there?" Misato asked into... a banana? "The hell?"

"I hope you didn't learn that sort of language from me," came a familiar voice from behind her.

"Dad...?" She whispered, turning around slowly. Her surroundings had changed. Instead of Asuka's room in her apartment at Tokyo-3, she was back in the laboratory of the Katsuragi Expedition. Moments away from the contact experiment.

The Lance made contact. ADAM woke up. Once again, she lost everything.

Then it started all over again.

-

Shinji's Dream

Shinji screamed as he looked upon the impossible thing in front of him. It defied description, especially with how it kept changing, though each form was as terrifyingly alien as the last. But worst of all was the body of his mother, hanging from the lamppost behind the thing that was not there before.  
_**  
Shinji Ikari... My name is Ishmael, and I am the Angel of the Dreams of the Dying. Do you know what that means?  
**_  
Shinji could barely respond, shaking his head.  
_**  
It means, **_Ishmael leaned closer (or something that seemed very much like that),_** you are not long for this, or any other, world.  
**_  
Shinji's eyes widened, "B-but this is a dream, you can't- AAAAAAAAAAH!" Shinji's arm twisted, almost to the breaking point, in both the dream world he resided in, and in the waking world.  
_**  
I can't what? Hurt you? Heh. Let me show you what's happening to your dear Asuka...**___

-

Asuka's Dream

Asuka gripped her bleeding shoulder, as bare as the rest of her, as she cowered in the corner opposite the monster that had appeared in the middle of her wonderful dream with Shinji.

"Awww, whassa matter, woobie?" crooned Iruel, her blood on his wide grin. "I thought you were enjoying yourself."

Asuka shivered and looked around. Where were her other selves? Usually, they joined her for her Shinji dreams, or helped her when her Iruel nightmares returned. Though, she had never had a Shinji dream become an Iruel nightmare before.

"Wondering about the bitches who helped you against me before?"

The bedroom they had been in shifted, revealing her super-smart-side's mental laboratory. Sparky, as she occasionally called that side of her, was at the workbench, trying to put something together.

"Why won't this work? It should work, I've done it before, but nothing's fitting together, and and and.." Sparky rambled, panic gripping her as her smarts seemed to flee her.

The scene shifted again, this time to a battle field where the Great Asuka Langhley Sohryu lay on the ground, pierced by nine familiar-looking Lances, one of them going through her eye. Above, four winged Iruel circled as nine more stalked to their fallen foe and began devouring her.

The horror reset just before things changed, and she was in a room full of... herself? Her mind stuttered to a halt as she saw Dollie surrounded by Asukas that were all in various forms of death, save for one or two that were berating Asuka's longest friend for not saving her.

Everything turned white as Iruel returned to her, malevolent smile still on his face.


	3. Suffering in Slumberland

SUFFERING IN SLUMBERLAND

Shinji's Nightmare

Shinji stared in horror at what the Angel had done to Asuka's dream, the fact that she was naked the whole time not even phasing him.  
_**  
And let's not forget you dear sisters...  
**_

Kei's Dream

Everything that she had worked for had finally come to fruition. Aside from Kaworu, she had the highest Synch Ratio, but as she knew from NERV-Berlin's MAGI that Kaworu's Eva was once him, she didn't hold it against him. Rei hadn't minded one bit that her youngest sister was better than her, and in fact seemed to enjoy the fact that Kei could pilot so well.

The other Ree had gained cores of their own and, despite their insane exaggerations of personalities, had settled into a comfortable existence (not routine by any means, as the Ree were inherently chaotic). Each had found their own niche in NERV to settle into, and they kept busy with that, though they still found time to bug her every day.

Except for Tabris, the last of the original Angels had been destroyed or converted, with Zeruel being the hardest to fight off, as Kaworu said he would be. Thankfully, he had been slightly weakened by a bought with several Cherubim at once, but that was another matter entirely.

Yui had fully accepted her as her daughter and taught her some further tricks for manipulation that she had apparently learned from an American gentleman named David Xanatos.

But to top it all off was the ring she wore on her left ring finger. Kaworu, it turns out, had actually been pursuing Rei to learn what kind of ring to get her, and told her that he was trying to "mate" with her sister to throw her off. It was a beautiful ring with a modest sapphire setting that occasionally seemed to glow in dim light. It felt a little off to her, but it was her engagement ring, so she ignored it.

Then came the worst day of her life.

She made one mistake during a battle, the rifle in her hands shifting until she had accidentally shot Shinji instead of the Cherub. She could have sworn she had a target lock on the enemy, but her left hand shifted her aim ever so slightly...

Shinji died from the head shot. Ichi was badly crippled mentally. Everything went downhill from there.

Her family turned their backs on her, and even Kaworu looked upon her with disappointed eyes. When she attempted to explain herself, no one listened. She decided to speak, then, with Lilith.

Kaworu followed her. They spoke for a while until they understood what happened. Then, just as they were about to return to the command level, her left hand pushed Kaworu over the edge of the railing. He fell into Lilith.

She ran, trying to make it to somebody before they were destroyed by the accidental Contact. But everywhere she went, they had (apparently) turned into piles of orange. Except for herself. And her sisters.

Rei couldn't take the loss of the rest of her family, even though the Ree were intact, and activated NERV's self-destruct.

Kei tried to stop it, but her left hand wasn't working quite right. She thought she would die in the explosion, but as she shielded her eyes from the white light, a blue light appeared around her, coming from her ring.

She was the only one left. And it was all. Her. Fault.

-

Rei's Nightmare

Rei made her way down into Sheol through the vents, as usual. No one's allowed down here except... except... she shook herself, So that means everyone must be okay, right? Right!

She emerged near the tanks that held her sisters. There was Kei, right there in front of the control panel.

And the tanks were murky and empty.

"I wondered when you would get here, sister. Enjoy your surprises?" Kei's voice was monotone and colder than anyone had ever heard it before. Kei turned around, revealing her S2 Organ had moved and started glowing brightly, a mad grin on her face at odds with the emotionless tone of her voice.

-

Shinji's Nightmare

"Why..." Shinji got out. "Why are you showing me this?"  
_**  
Why indeed... To put it simply, I'm going to break you to pieces in your mind and break your body inch by inch, then when I'm done, I'm going to start. All. Over. Now, let's see who else I've got...  
**_

Waking World

Gendo, upon hearing that the Angel's pattern was also detected at his home, slammed his fist on a button Yui had never allowed him to use before. A pipe extended from the ceiling and sucked him up, blasting him through pipes that lead from the control center to his room.

There was no one else in the room, but he heard screams coming from Rei and Kei's room, and he dashed in there. Yui was on the floor, Rei and Kei on their beds, and all three were covered in the vein-like patterns that Major Katsuragi had described on Shinji and Asuka before she was apparently cut off.

Rei's form was sweating with exertion, Kei spasmed chaotically as she whimpered, but Yui...

"Oh my god..." Gendo whispered, horrified. Yui screamed in pain as her skin seemed to be peeling away, strip-by-strip, in the form of bite marks. He reached out to her, and recoiled as Ishmael's AT-Field appeared, before the glowing blue eye appeared on Yui.  
_**  
**__**SLEEP**__**  
**_  
Gendo hit the ground, sleeping peacefully for only a few seconds before he started screaming, too.

-

Yui's Dream

Yui stood, holding Ichi by the hand like she had in that strange world they visited. They walked along a grassy plain, when suddenly, Ichi stopped.

"Ichi? What's wrong?" Yui asked.

"I'm hungry..." Ichi moaned.

"Well, I'm sure we'll come across a restaurant soon en- aah!" Yui cried out in pain as Ichi bit down on her hand. "Ichi? What are you- AAAH!"

"I'm hungry, Mommy. And you're so delicious," Ichi said cutely between bites of Yui's arm. "Just like you were twelve years ago."

-

Gendo's Dream

Gendo found himself sitting in his intimidation position at his desk, everything perfectly silent, but dark. For some unknown reason, he found a simple handgun laying on his desk, and he reached out to place it in a drawer, or maybe just examine it. As he picked it up, the office door opened, and in walked Yui. To his horror, he found his hand being pulled by the gun into pointing at his beloved wife and firing, despite his finger not being anywhere near the trigger.

A hole appeared in her head and she collapsed to the ground. He attempted to stand and run to her, but his body wouldn't acknowledge his commands and he remained sitting, gun pointing at the entrance, unwavering. One-by-one, everyone he knew came in through the door (except Rei, but the gun turned and shot her out of the air anyways), and the gun would shoot them, looking for all the world as if he had murdered them all.

He desperately tried moving, to put the gun down to stand up, to do anything at all, all the while wondering through his disgust and terror if the damned thing would ever run out of ammo. Then the bodies faded away. And Yui came in again.

And the gun fired.

-

Shinji's Nightmare

"Father!"_****_

Be glad, Shinji Ikari, that I don't just kill him like you did MY Father! Roared Ishmael._****_

"You monster!" Shinji hadn't felt like this since Iruel. Wait... Iruel..._****_

You say nothing new, Shinji Ikari. Now, I do believe it is time for the second part of my plan. One of Ishmael's... appendages reached out towards him and grabbed his arm.

"Your forgetting something, though," Shinji said, suddenly seeming calm, even as Ishamael bent his fingers backwards._****_

And what would that be? Ishmael wondered why the Child's fingers weren't snapping like they should.

"This is MY mind!" The illusion of the city shattered.  
_**  
WHAT?  
**_  
"And you've accomplished something that only one other Angel has done before."_****_

No...

"You've pissed. Me. Off!" Shinji roared and the visions of the others' dreams changed. "And one thing you should never forget about humans! WE ALWAYS FIND A WAY!"_**  
****AGGGGGHHH!**_

Quick Author's Note: In Kei's Dream, Ishmael's manipulation of her was so smooth, that she didn't notice that her hand did anything independently of herself.


	4. Nightmares Never End so Easily

NIGHTMARES NEVER END SO EASILY...

-  
_**  
AGGGGGHHH!**_ Screamed Ishmael, as Shinji focused all his anger and hate at the non-euclidean Cherub. The creature seemed to spasm, or so Shinji's "senses" told him, and the dream world he was in shattered, returning him to the large blue ball and yellow skies.

"What? What am I doing back here?"  
_**  
AAAAHAHAHAHAHA! Did you seriously think I would lose to something as simple as that? Please, I've been in your mind since your last fight with Father, I know all there is to know about you.  
**_  
The air around Shinji shimmered as the nightmares of his friends and family revealed themselves to him again. He tried to keep from looking, but his eyes would not close, and he was surrounded by the "screens."

There was Asuka and Iruel.

Rei fighting Kei, her friends and family corpses in the background.

Kei curled up in a ball amongst the ruins of NERV.

His Father shooting his whole family.

His Mother being eaten by Ichi.

Misato watching ADAM rise, again and again and again.

The ground under Shinji's feet began to morph, forming several large tentacles that grabbed Shinji by the arms and legs, two for each limb, the neck, and around his chest. Ishmael reformed between two of the nightmares, not allowing Shinji to look away from them to focus on him, and reached out again with his appendages towards Shinji's left arm.  
_**  
Now, where were we...  
**_  
Shinji started screaming as his fingers were broken at each joint, while knowing that there was more agony coming.

-

Waking World

_"Okay, Mari, you understand what to do?"_ asked Ritsuko over a communicator set in Mari's ear.

"I got it, Doctor Akagi," Mari stood in the entrance way of Misato's apartment, shuddering at the screams and sobs she could hear coming from the bedrooms within. She, as the least inconspicuous Angel fighter they had, was sent to find out what form the Angel that had attacked the Pilots had taken, and to find a way to combat it.

She made her way stealthily through the apartment, first checking on Misato and Asuka. Asuka was crying and screaming in pain and sorrow as marks appeared on her body from the dream she was having, while Misato was curled up in a ball, sobbing silently and shaking. Mari extended her Angelic senses and realized that the Cherub she had come to find was in Shinji's room.

Where the loudest screams echoed from.

Shaking with fear, she approached the room, hearing the sound of breaking bones as she got closer. She stepped inside and found Shinji with his left arm broken in several spots all the way up to his shoulder, and his right arm was quickly going the same way. She glanced at his face, the pain being so great as to make him cry while he screamed.

It was then that she noticed it. There was a softly glowing blue light on his forehead that was almost imperceptible. Cautiously extending her AT-Field, she reached for the light.

It's glow brightened intensely as it shifted into a blue eye.  
_**  
**__**SLEEP**__**  
**_  
Mari fought the hypnotic suggestion and broke through with a whispered, "No."

The eye seemed to blink.  
_**  
You are strong. Yes... I recognize you now. You are the fake Ramiel. There is nothing you can do to save him or any of the others. **__**Leave.**__**  
**_  
Mari fought another suggestion and shook her head violently. "I will not leave him. And I will destroy you."  
_**  
You cannot defeat me without killing him. I chose my position well.  
**_  
"I will find a way."

-

Shinji's Nightmare

As Shinji's bones broke, he suddenly gained a moment of clarity as Ishmael forced him to watch the nightmares of his family.

Iruel's eyes were black, not the blue in Asuka's dream.

Kei was supposed to look exactly like Rei, but her eyes were blue instead of red.

There was a glowing blue stone in a ring on Kei's left hand.

The gun was bluish-silver.

Chibi-Ichi's eyes were also blue instead of the normal green.

He didn't know what Misato's dad looked like but he was pretty sure his eyes weren't the same shade of electric blue as the other things he saw.

Including Ishmael's eyes (when the Angel had them) and the ball he stood on.

Ishmael was in everyone's dreams himself. Not just in Shinji's. He had total control of everyone.


	5. Saved By an Angel

Author's Note: fanfiction .net's giving me trouble with three of Lily's emoticons: the ":(" ":((" and first ":)" are supposed to have greater than signs in front of them, but it won't let me put them in there. You'll have to do that yourself.

SAVED BY AN ANGEL

Mari was in a stare-down with Ishmael, trying to figure out a way to destroy the Core without harming Shinji. She tried to approach from several different angles, but the Core was recessed into Shinji's forehead, so the only angle she could Laser Face it from would have vaporized Shinji's head. Also unfortunately, NERV never figured that they would have to fight an Angel outside of an Eva, so there wasn't anything like a miniaturized Prog Knife she could use on it.

From what she could tell, Shinji's other arm had just been broken to the shoulder, and her had stopped screaming, though it was obvious he was still trying when she heard the sound of breaking bones from the area of his feet.

**:(**

"Lily?" Mari looked surprised to see the young, sentient wormhole with her in Shinji's room (later she would be stupefied to realize she was more surprised that Lily was there, rather than what Lily _was_). Lily floated over to Shinji and, without even trying, floated right through the Cherub's AT-Field.

_**And what do you think you can do, little thing?**_

**:)**

And with that, Lily enveloped the blue Core.

Shinji's Nightmare

Ishmael stopped in its... ministrations, Shinji's legs broken to the knees. Shinji panted, sight bleary from pain and tears.

Now, across from the blue sphere that represented Ishmael's true self, there floated a black and white sphere of equal size.

_**I don't know how you managed that, but you're going to regret entering the realm of dreams.**_

**:P**

"...Lily...?" Shinji muttered hoarsely, recognizing the strange chirp of the young Angel.

**^.^**

Ishmael pulsed and the world _shifted_. Lily's form melted and poured into each of the nightmares Shinji was being forced to watch, leaving two small portions of itself behind. And in each dream, there was another Lily.

Asuka's Nightmare

Lily descended over Iruel and Asuka, quickly enveloping them both, before going off to gather Sparky, the Great Asuka Langhley Sohryu, and Dollie, absorbing them, too.

**:)**

Rei's Nightmare

As Rei and Kei pulled back for a Falcon Punch, Lily appeared between the two, catching them both at the same time and shunting them off.

Misato's Nightmare

Lily knew it had to be quick here, as this Nightmare was very short and this fragment might be erased when it did. Misato was quickly absorbed, and her "father" was taken while he was surprised.

**^.^**

Kei's Nightmare

Lily was in and out of Kei's dream in no time at all, since Kei wasn't moving and Ishmael was in the same place.

Yui's Nightmare

Lily captured the fake Ichi first, then gently hugged Yui with itself as it took them where they needed to be.

Gendo's Nightmare

Gendo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Lily absorbed the gun out of his hand, before flinching back as it got him, too.

Shared Nightmare

Out of one of the two Lilies left behind fell a ring, a gun, Chibi-Ichi, Kei, Misato's Father, and Iruel, which all struck Ishmael, who screamed as they re-integrated into it.

Out of the other came the people Lily had rescued, who all landed around Shinji. The Asukae instantly latched onto him, but were more careful after he whimpered in pain. Gendo hugged Yui, already being supremely careful about her wounds. Kei and Misato remained curled up on the ground, while Rei looked around in confusion.

**:((**

Lily's chirp got their attention (except for Misato and Kei), as the various Lelielim that had manifested in Ishmael's Nightmare Land gathered around the sleeping people and changed, forming into a semi-spherical platform that managed to severe the tentacles holding Shinji up and lifted them away from the Cherub's Dream-Core.

One Lily, however, was not a part of the platform. That one grew in size to the point that it matched Ishmael again and attacked.

Waking World

Mari sighed in relief when Shinji seemed to calm down, and the cries and whimpers from Asuka's room mostly stopped.

Mari looked at Lily curiously as she lifted away, the Core no longer in Shinji's forehead. But where...?

**%|**

With a sound resembling a hiccup, a blue glow appeared outside Shinji's window. Mari knew what she needed to do. Without a word, she blasted the Core with her eyebeams, and it exploded in a glorious display. It was done. Ishmael was no more. All that was left, was recovery.


	6. After Action Report

Report on the recent Angel attack

By Ritsuko Akagi

It's been a week since the Cherub, called "Ishmael" according to Pilot Shinji Ikari, attacked the pilots and their families. There have been lasting consequences that transferred over to the real world, particularly since part of the Angel's power was to translate damage done in the dream world to the body.

Commander Gendo Ikari has not stepped foot in his office, and refuses to even look at a gun. He hasn't even adopted his usual pose while on the command deck.

Dr. Yui Ikari needed bandages over the entirety of her body save her head, due to her skin being slowly stripped away. She has also expressed some minor trepidation over the thought of seeing Eva Unit-01. Or, rather, she's become afraid of Ichi.

Major Misato Katsuragi has become almost catatonic, much as she had when she was found after the Katsuragi Expedition. According to Pilot Shinji Ikari, she was forced to relive the events repeatedly, which would explain what happened.

The First Child, Pilot Rei Ayanami, has been scaring more people than she ever has before, by not acting like her usual self. She has shown extreme animosity to Kei, and occasionally breaks down crying when she sees the condition Shinji and Yui Ikari are in, but otherwise is solemn and quiet.

The Second Child, Pilot Asuka Langhley Sohryu, has suffered a relapse in her personality, returning to the stuttering, fearful child she was when she arrived. When I spoke to her, she managed to confide in me that even her other personalities had clammed up. She suffered extensive bruising and her left shoulder has deep puncture marks in it. Her right eye has also suffered some minor damage, requiring her to wear her glasses more often.

The Third Child, Pilot Shinji Ikari, suffered more physical wounds than psychological ones, though he has still withdrawn from the world. At this point, I hazard to guess that he is the only Pilot who would be able to attain a high enough Synch Ratio to pilot, but as he is confined to a hospital bed with multiple compound fractures in his arms and legs, he is not able to pilot either.

The Sixth Child, Pilot Kei Ayanami, has become almost as withdrawn as Misato, but can still function. She has yet to say anything to anyone other than "I'm sorry," but she refuses to explain what she's apologizing for.

All in all, it was a complete disaster that has completely crippled NERV and its ability to fight Angels. We can only hope that everyone will have recovered by the time the next one arrives, or that Chairman Kihl will have allowed us to borrow Kaworu and Evangelion Unit-06.

End Report


End file.
